Carol Kaye's method of muting open strings with felt

[Clef_de_fa]

The problem with that felt thingy is it changes the tone and the sustain of the instrument ... if you aren't look for old school thump then this solution isn't great at all... I also thing it is a crutch because if it wasn't there, strings would be ringing all day, so you still can't control your instrument.

 

[bluesdogblues]

As seen in the attached image from this website: http://carolkaye.com/www/education/tips101.htm (it's tip 113)

I have recently started playing with a pick (because it sounds awesome). I've been having a lot of trouble with the muting, or lack there of, of the strings I am not playing. I am curious about this method.

Could anyone give me more detail on this? What kind of felt is she using (I'm assuming that all felt is not created equal)? How is it attached to the bass? How far from the bridge?

Less technically, what do you think of this muting method?

Thanks.

I think you just don't read the link you provide yourself good enough.
If you read carefully on that very Carol Kaye's website you provide, you'd find the answer of your question.
OK I'll tell you: Find "tip 34" on that website, Carol Kaye explains it clearly.

No matter what 'additional tool(s)' you attached to your bass, you'd still have to learn your own technique/skill to mute any unwanted ringing/sounds with your hands/fingers, left or right hands/fingers. Anyone have personally different technique for this. The more you focus to your (sound and) playing, the more you play, it'll become 'automatically' for you.

 

[MrLenny1]

I read that Tony Levin improvised with a diaper for string mute
when he recorded Don't Give Up with Peter Gabriel.
Whatever works.
I'd like to see a string mute that you can select on/off.
Palm muting gives me a cramp in the left hand.

 

[hewstigator]

No matter what 'additional tool(s)' you attached to your bass, you'd still have to learn your own technique/skill to mute any unwanted ringing/sounds with your hands/fingers, left or right hands/fingers. Anyone have personally different technique for this. The more you focus to your (sound and) playing, the more you play, it'll become 'automatically' for you.

yeah the felt muting i am familiar with mainly just cuts the sustain of higher overtones, so i agree with prior posters that even using a felt mute (unless you are going super heavy on the muting) will not overcome the problem of leaving other unplayed notes to ring freely, muddying up the sound.

it's probably confusing since we're using "muting" for two meanings, one to like literally "mute" the sound of other strings, and another (e.g., felt muting) to improve the sound of played notes.

i haven't really come across a situation where left or right hand muting (in the "killing unplayed notes" sense) was uncomfortable or ungainly. as people have previously noted, you just fret the next note making sure to touch the previous ringing string(s) in the process; or just use your left or right hand touch the strings to make sure you're damping out the previous note. most of the time i find that for fretted notes, just lifting off with my fret-finger will damp the note, but that could be because i play with a pretty high action....

 

[bluesdogblues]

...most of the time i find that for fretted notes, just lifting off with my fret-finger will damp the note, but that could be because i play with a pretty high action....

Recently I practice (and play with) my open strings. In that situation, there's no other way than 'kill' the unwanted ringing/sounding note with some kind of 'muting' technique, either left or right hand(s)/finger(s).

 

[bassfreakah]

THIS IS ALSO A GREAT TOOL FOR MUTING..
http://www.talkbass.com/threads/bass-mute-patton-mute-pad.985663/#post-14096672

 

[cool breeze]

To the OP. I know the feeling. I like thin necks as I play with a pick and wrap my thumb to mute the E. I also use your technique with my fretted hand where I play the note and simultaneously mute the A or D string with the tip of my finger. I can't palm mute to save my life. Foam works u just need to experiment with thickness to get the sound u like.

 

[iiipopes]

Everyone is forgetting something: Leo wanted the Precision Bass to sound like an amplified version of a double bass. So he put a strip of weather stripping, much like what has been posted above, on the inside of the "ash tray" bridge cover so it would damp the strings at the bridge. All the other "fixes" listed above are what were done later. At the outset, Carol Kaye played bone-stock P-basses, including the bridge cover. It is only when Fender quit putting the weatherstripping under the bridge cover that all these other fixes were used to get back to that "original" sound.

 

[JustSomeDude]

Necro thread

Reviving this as I’ve been messing with pickup and bridge cover on my old P Bass with Flats.
I am good at palm muting with pick and thumb as well as using my right hand to make dampened tones by laying my fingers across the strings.
It can screw up your hands.... I am over 50
You really have to concentrate on NO TENSION.
Funny as I see in my profile pick that I am palm muting/pick in that photo.

What I DONT like about relying on palm mute is that I don’t have the option of playing above the pickup. But it allows you to switch back and forth whenever you want which is nice.

I have used foam, very soft polishing rags...I have some felt strips laying around (use for piano tuning). I love the idea of attaching weather stripping to Felt.

 

[freshbass]

I put foam under the strings close to the bridge. I use a BassMute on my Fender Jaguar and it works well for pick playing and finger playing. The nice thing is that it uses a lever to set the muting level so you can adjust it on the fly (depending on how fast you are flying).

View attachment 1677749
View attachment 1677750

I had one, the thing I disliked was at the more extreme settings it makes the strings go sharp, so you have to retune or not use them engaged in 3 or 4 position (0 off 1 slightly engaged 2 more 4 most). I found the 1st position did not effect tuning so it was he only useful setting IMO. I finally just put a fender ashtray cover mute back on the bass.

 

[Lamphun_Lamyai]

I spend an hour of my time making a mute and documenting it in an effort to help someone and I get a crappy comment like this? What the hell is your problem? You have nothing better to do than make snide comments to someone who has done nothing to you? Would you like it if someone did that to you?

That is something I would like: I skilled bass guitar teacher to spend an hour showing me proper muting technique. I've done a whole lot of reading on the subject and come up with nothing except frustration and more questions. My problem? I ain't finding an English speaking, skilled bass guitar teacher where I live here in Thailand. Which suck. Strings ringing out is a huge problem for me in certain situations, especially on my 34 inch bass, not so much on my short scale.

 

[Metal Sombreros]

You can do it all with your hands you dont need foam